Kidds Otaku Time Management

I really like it when the anime community comes together to do something which is why I jumped at the idea of joining Kai from Deluscar and many other anime bloggers in their venture to discuss how they manage their time between all their hobbies and life outside of that.

Organising time is something I have never been good at, or rather it something I never knew I was good at. Organising time is an essential part for any anime fan i.e if they are not a hikikomori (shut in).

Being a college student, an anime fan, a hardcore gamer, a football fanatic, a modern rock enthusiast and all out cool dude is not an easy thing to pull off without managing your time. I give priority to anime in my free time though and try to squeeze in anything else if I can.

My weekdays are usually filled with either schoolwork during the day and my part time job in the evening and on my off days so the only free time I get is usually between 10pm and 6am in the morning, yes I have pulled an all nighter before mostly because of Football matches and some frustrating Boss battles.

The odd weekday I have off I plan days in advance, I usually spend this time marathoning anime or playing video games. I don’t like to be constrained to less than 4 hours of free time when im watching anime or playing games so I make sure I have no commitments beforehand and lock myself in for that glorious gaming session or anime marathon.

The answer to all our time problems

When I do have free time that has less than a 4 hour stretch between commitments I use it to read anime blogs, video game sites and listen to podcasts. This is also when I tend to raise my infamous discussions on twitter or Google+. Speaking of which the hangout feature on Google+ is a great way to pass a couple of hours with friends from around the world while sharing media, links and even our desktop screens in real time. I’ve found using Google+ as a fun way to spend my short bursts of free time while still remaining somewhat productive.

My weekends off are very similar except for the odd day when my friends make plans to go out or something. Meeting other Otaku in person is something that I deem as very important and a priveledge. Which is why I made it a point to have every Tuesday evening free from work for my weekly anime club meet ups. I have met and made very dear friends there, meeting people who share a strong passion with you for something as niche as anime is really important it helps me not feel “alone” or “weird” for loving this little hobby of mine so much. Why just the other day I was at a Final Fantasy Cosplay event that was organised by some of our local Cosplay club members.

This is what I do when I do go outside

Basically the hardest bit is balancing how much time I dedicate to each hobby of mine I have found that I settled into a routine of prioritising anime one week and then gaming the next, all while blogging and social networking in between. I try not to burn myself out in either of my hobbies. Infact, I have found that the lack of time I have to fully indulge myself in any of these hobbies has kept my lust for each one of them at a peak and when you have been at work for over 9 hours with a couple more hours to go, its stuff like that that keeps you going.

Planning is the Key

“Plan Your Life” is a phrase I always used to use back home with my best friends and it became some kind of an in-joke to spite me despite the fact that I was being serious. I have never been the most diligent at planning for the short term, but the long term and same goes for anime. I always look at seasonal charts and upcoming DVD releases and pick and choose what I am and can afford to watch within that next quarter of the year. Usually limiting myself to 3 or 4 shows streaming and 2 DVD’s. It’s very rare that I exceed the 4 shows a season limit that has only happened once in what I believe to be the best season anime has ever had, Fall 2011.

Same goes for Video Games, Football, Movies and even Birthday parties and such, I would hate to be in a situation where my hobbies clashed or I just didn’t have enough time to do everything I wanted.

So there you have it, that’s how I go about my daily life trying to keep on top of all the things I love. I’m in way too many fandoms for my own good. How do you guys manage to stay on top things and not go insane?

8 Responses to “Kidds Otaku Time Management”

Thanks for sharing. i often find that my entertainment sessions clash. Whenever i have free time, do i go for my controller, read up on stuff, watch a movie or anime? This really bugs me a lot. I like that you do a little mid-to-long term planning. I will take that up too.

I spend my free time pretty much the same way as you do, but with a lot less G+ and zero podcasts. Planning is very important to managing your time effectively. I find that on weekdays when I have less time, I actually get more done because I’ve scheduled when I’m going to do things.